The Disgusting State Of Our trains

One of the biggest complaints about our trains is the disgusting state that most of them seem to find themselves in. There are repeated assurances that they are regularly cleaned but you have to wonder if perhaps the hoovers are set to blow rather than suck.

So, yes it's easy to blame the cleaning regime, and the age of the trains. But unfortunately some of the blame must rest with certain passengers. It is almost the norm now for some people to put their feet on the seat opposite, with no regard to the state of their shoes. Interesting, sort of, to note that airline style seating where nobody sits opposite, doesn’t fray nearly so quickly. And then litter rarely seems to find its way into the bin with half eaten sandwiches left lying around. Half finished drinks abandoned on a seat can often be found, leaking everywhere – more often then not next to an empty bin.

And this isn't behaviour that is limited to a particular age group either. People of an age that you would expect to know better are equally guilty of this. Last week a lady well past retirement age had both feet firmly planted on the seat opposite. When she got off, the remains of her partly eaten snack were evenly distributed everywhere but the bin, the wrappers strewn across the floor.  Having said that I remember a time when a train pulled into Colchester and the chap in front of me got on to see a young lad with his feet on the seats. He politely asked the lad if the leather jacket in the rack was his. When told that it was, he calmly took it down, wiped the seat with it and then put it back in the rack. This was met with an open mouthed look of amazement from said youth and a round of applause from other passengers. Now I can't really recommend this approach as sadly not all will see the error of their ways quite so calmly and fisticuffs may ensue. I've seen that too.

But to return to my original point.  No amount of cleaning, even with the hoovers on the correct setting, will remove the stains from chewing gum that has become part of the fabric.  Yes the seat edges are frayed but could that be down to a regular visit from a pair of size 9s last seen tramping across a building site / office / playing field? (Delete as appropriate)....

Published in The Gazette 'On The Rails' 5th February 2015